It is Okay to Not Vote

on March 30, 2009

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Kartikey Sehgal

 

vote or tea

 

 

It is absolutely fine if you do not vote in the coming elections. Asking you to vote compulsorily is like enforcing a caste system.

Consider the Jaago Re ad on television in which a ‘young’ man and his friend offer tea to people who have not cast their vote. You are sleeping-he tells them. When they retort that they are awake, the man says that if on Election Day people are not voting then they are obviously sleeping. The embarrassed/awakened people then accept the cup of tea as the two young men walk confidently amidst the crowd.

Compulsory voting is subterfuge. It is a marketing gimmick. It is setting a low benchmark for people; so that people feel glad by just voting. Never mind that most people won’t know whom to vote for. Does the Prime Minister of this country appear on television and announce in clear terms his plans for education to girls from the Doda tribe? People are not wise about any candidate and yet asked to vote or to hang their head in shame.

How the voting caste system works: people who have voted can identify and then blame the people who have not voted during elections. This is the burden of responsibility; it is telling the non-voters that the country gets lazy politicians because of their non-decision; it is feeling happy to have done your responsible bit for the country. Should anybody question your patriotism you can announce that you voted like a responsible Indian. 
It is finding the goats who did not vote for a butcher.

Why should anybody be compelled to vote? The willingness to vote should be personal willingness. People should be self-inspired to vote for a particular candidate. In India, many people don’t know much about the candidate and they know little about their leadership skills. So why should they spend their resources on the politician?

To know a country is to identify its problems. When India was attacked by the British, the kings and the princes passed the buck on one another. The caste system got rigid. To be like the British, the Brahmins relegated the shudras to lowliness. None had the courage to get together and take the outsiders head on. Similarly, unless the country is attacked by terrorists, people don’t get together or even write about urgent issues. Never mind that hundreds are killed in Mumbai Local Trains (deserves the first letter capital status) every month. Nobody is going to take the politicians to task. That, is tough. Very tough. It is easier to blame the people. “You voted” and “You never voted” and “your kind of people voted for…” Create rifts. So that today residents of Andheri fight with residents of Virar for seat sharing at 9 A.M every morning and every day of the year. They will not get together and tell the government to look beyond allotting land to Mr. Nano. Similarly, through advertisements like the Jaago Re and now Shut Up and Vote ad, divisions are being created between the people. Shut Up and Vote. Unless you do that, you have no role in questioning the government. This is easy. Easier than telling the government to Shut Up and Govern. So that people vote in the next elections.

These advertisements, in addition, will show non-voters in a negative light. They will also be non-relevant to the people in rural areas who are anyway eager to vote and believe that they have some political options. Over 50% people voted in Kashmir (State Elections) without any prodding. They travelled on cold streets and cast their votes without bothering about their morning kavah. Just because they wanted to vote. They felt that they have some options. The will to vote was self-will.

We are now 60-plus years post independence. People have realised that they have been voting because they were lied to about policies. These people are not the internet surfing populace. They are villagers and those belonging to road-less rural India. They vote not for any concern for the nation but concern for their self. It was expected and hoped by Mr. Nehru that with impetus to education, people in India’s villages would adopt an all-India view of politics. Unfortunately, till this day, people are voting because of blankets and chappals and promised electricity and free rice.

So what has always happened is happening now. For the last 60 years, Indians have had no real knowledge and education about elections. People are parochial and divided over basic issues like water (example).

And people in cities are under the impression that they are aware of the needs of the nation. “I want a young politician. They should be educated and computer savvy….” 

—-You want nothing. You want what you are told to want.
A precedent: remember the last elections. ‘Young politicians’ was the keyword. The Pilots and the Gandhis. This was the mantra fed to voters. So that five more years pass by without many questions asked. Vote so that young people come into politics. If you don’t vote for them, then you have no right to complain that the country is not led by bright politicians. Elections over. Good night and good luck.

People must wake up to marketing inventions and determine whether voting is being encouraged or tea is being sold; if campaigns for voting are opportunities for brand selling.

It is nobody’s duty to vote. If at all there is any iota of responsibility, it is to vote correctly. Correctly. Let the politicians come to the people and tell them to regain trust in the electoral process. Le them reach out to the villagers and promise them no more lies but a better life. And people should vote only when they feel convinced. When they feel like entering the polling station despite the heat and ill-health. And not because of any obligation.


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